Currently preoccupied with the works of Mark Twain but ready willing and able to develop web sites with Drupal
Kuna Glacier circa 1975

The Kuna Glacier circa 1975. It no longer looks like this.



I Ching Trigrams

"Face it Tim, we’ve broken the sky, and we will have to pay for it.", Martin Cohen

The Innocents Abroad - Chapter 21

The Pretty Lago di Lecco--A Carriage Drive in the Country--Astonishing Sociability in a Coachman--Sleepy Land--Bloody Shrines--The Heart and Home of Priestcraft--A Thrilling Mediaeval Romance--The Birthplace of Harlequin--Approaching Venice

A Live Voice Presentation Recorded at Fate Gardens in Second Life as read by SLClemens

October 4, 2011

Twain travels from Lake Como to Venice. Along the way he hears the Legend of Count Luigi and his evil brother Leonardo. This is a live recording converted into a slide show with the open source program Imagination.


The Innocents Abroad - Chapter 20

Rural Italy by Rail—Fumigated, According to Law—The Sorrowing Englishman—Night by the Lake of Como—The Famous Lake—Its Scenery—Como compared with Tahoe—Meeting a Shipmate

A Live Voice Presentation Recorded at Fate Gardens in Second Life as read by SLClemens

September 27, 2011

Twain travels from Milan to Lake Como. He stays in the small town of Bellagio, once the site of a Roman resort. He waxes poetic over the differences between Lake Tahoe and Lake Como but his bigotry in regards to Native Americans spoils the show. Included on this page is a copy of Letter 8 of Twain's offerings to the Daily Alta California, dated September 22, 1867. It was written in July of 1867. Most of the letter applies to this chapter but the paragraphs on The Last Supper were used in chapter 19.


The Innocents Abroad - Chapter 19

"Do You Wiz zo Haut can be?"—La Scala—Petrarch and Laura—Lucrezia Borgia—Ingenious Frescoes—Ancient Roman Amphitheatre—A Clever Delusion—Distressing Billiards—The Chief Charm of European Life—An Italian Bath—Wanted: Soap—Crippled French—Mutilated English—The Most Celebrated Painting in the World—Amateur Raptures—Uninspired Critics—Anecdote—A Wonderful Echo—A Kiss for a Franc

A Live Voice Presentation Recorded at Fate Gardens in Second Life as read by SLClemens

September 27, 2011

An exploration of the art in Milan, Di Vinci, Michelangelo, etc. We also get a peek at Lucretia Borgia and Petrarch's Laura. The chapter contains Twain's reflections on Di Vinci's The Last Supper and comments on how the image is described by viewers. How is it possible to perceive the many nuances said to be found in the painting when it is in such a degraded condition.

The Last Supper was described by Twain in Letter number 8 to The Daily Alta California. This is only a small portion of the letter. I expect to include a copy of the letter with the Chapter 20 material.


Living with Dementia

My mother's dementia is becoming more and more prominent. The last couple of weeks she has been fixated on an early childhood friend, Buddy McQuat. He died at an early age from measels, obviously my mother survived. It seems she has been suffering from a deep seated guilt about that and it is now plaguing her. I had heard the story many times from many years before she had any indication of dementia. Her mother was Christian Science, her father was not. She and Buddy both caught the measels and I've gotten some hints that she believes he got it from her. Anyway, her father took her to the doctor but his parents, after reportedly listening to her mother, did not. I don't know what a doctor, in those days, would have done for measels, as a vaccine would not be available yet for many years. But, it's in her mind that he died because he did not see a doctor for treatment.

Living with Dementia

Niagara, From Sketches New and Old

"Niagara Falls is a most enjoyable place of resort. The hotels are excellent, and the prices not at all exorbitant. The opportunities for fishing are not surpassed in the country; in fact, they are not even equaled elsewhere."

A Live Voice Presentation Recorded at Fate Gardens in Second Life as read by SLClemens

January 10, 2012

This is a slideshow created with Imagination. The images are all from the Gutenberg Project edition with corresponds with the Oxford Mark Twain. Imagination allows the use of empty slides between images. I'm utilizing them here rather than filling the spaces with various Twain portraits.


Happy Birthday my old friend

January 13th is the birthdate of an old friend of mine whom I haven't seen in years. Consider this blog entry a flag of welcome in case they should visit. Just wanted to let them know I remembered.

The Innocents Abroad - Chapter 18

Flying Through Italy—Marengo—First Glimpse of the Famous Cathedral—Description of some of its Wonders—A Horror Carved in Stone——An Unpleasant Adventure—A Good Man—A Sermon from the Tomb—Tons of Gold and Silver—Some More Holy Relics—Solomon's Temple

A Live Voice Presentation Recorded at Fate Gardens in Second Life as read by SLClemens

September 13, 2011

Twain is enraptured by the Cathedral of Milan. This is another slideshow produced with Imagination. I have not solved the color problem yet and I hope to spend more time playing with the transitions between slides in future shows.


The Innocents Abroad - Chapter 17

War—The American Forces Victorious—"Home Again"—Italy in Sight The "City of Palaces"—Beauty of the Genoese Women—The "Stub-Hunters"—Among the Palaces—Gifted Guide—Church Magnificence—"Women not Admitted"—How the Genoese Live—Massive Architecture—A Scrap of Ancient History—Graves for 60,000

A Live Voice Presentation Recorded at Fate Gardens in Second Life as read by SLClemens

September 13, 2011

Mark Twain travels to Italy and first lands at Genoa. He's not impressed by the architecture but the women capture him. I'm trying a different slideshow program with this chapter, Imagination. It uses ffmpeg to render the slideshow and as with the other programs has problems with the color rendition of the pictures but it has a large number of transformation functions to choose from. Note the brown sky around the cathedral, the original photo has blue sky. Also, the faces in the painting of Le Moulin are blue tinged rather than flesh toned, as found in the painting.


The Innocents Abroad - Chapter 16

Versailles—Paradise Regained—A Wonderful Park—Paradise Lost—Napoleonic Strategy

A Live Voice Presentation Recorded at Fate Gardens in Second Life as read by SLClemens

September 13, 2011

Twain is enraptured by Versailles. This is a rather interesting shift for Twain. Previously he has complained of the "worship of man" exhibited in the paintings of the "old masters" while here we have him waxing poetical over the works of man. He goes so far as to compare the gardens of Versailles with the Garden of Eden. It seems he even forgives the cost in human life it took to build the place.


The Innocents Abroad - Chapter 15

French National Burying—Ground—Among the Great Dead—The Shrine of Disappointed Love—The Story of Abelard and Heloise—"English Spoken Here"—"American Drinks Compounded Here"—Imperial Honors to an American—The Over-estimated Grisette—Departure from Paris—A Deliberate Opinion Concerning the Comeliness of American Women

A Live Voice Presentation Recorded at Fate Gardens in Second Life as read by SLClemens

September 6, 2011

Twain visits two "burying-grounds" in Paris, Pere la Chaise and St. Denis. He remarks on the ancient rulers of France, Dagobert, Clovis and Charlemagne, in St. Denis, and "the last home of scores of illustrious mean and women who were born to no titles, but achieved fame by their own energy and their own genius" in Pere la Chaise. Charlemagne was not interred at St. Denis but at Aachen Cathedral in modern day Germany. The tomb of Abelard and Heloise is found in Pere la Chaise and is a place of pilgrimage for the broken hearted.


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